Anne Oliver - The Ex Factor

One large bronzed hand curled around the edge of the sheet. ‘It’s okay, Mel,’ he said at last. ‘I’m decent.’

That was a matter for debate, she thought as he rose, giving her an eyeful of muscular torso covered only by a pair of black briefs, which did little to hide his impressive morning bulge…

Oh, dear God. She turned away, her face hot as wicked thoughts seared through her brain. At least he was out of her bed. ‘When you’re ready…’ When you’re covered.

She turned and headed back to the living room, grabbed the coffee plunger with its inch of black sludge and carried it to the kitchen. Some sort of conversation was inevitable and she needed a shot or three of caffeine first.

Where was Adam when she needed a buffer? His car was in the underground park next to hers, his bedroom door was shut. She drew in a breath as she dumped coffee into the plunger and savoured its steadying aroma.

She should’ve stayed in Canberra. Come home tonight like everyone else. Perhaps she’d have avoided this now inevitable reunion. The memories reared up and the secret she’d thought she’d buried turned over in her breast and throbbed to life again.

* * *

Luke continued to stare at the empty doorway after she’d gone. Melanie. His Melanie. Her imprint was still seared onto his eyeballs. Curves and colours—tight yellow sweater, a purple skirt above a tantalising flash of leg, knee-high furry beige boots tied up with laces… So Technicolor, so vibrant. So Mel.

Still the most beguiling woman he’d ever met.

And he’d spent the night in her bed.

His fingers clenched at his sides, tension gripped his gut. One look was all he needed to get the adrenaline pumping, his body tensing in anticipation. He remembered how it had been between them—hot, urgent, a fast-track ride to paradise. He’d always wondered how he’d react if he saw her again. Whether the old desires and needs lived up to the memory.

Now he knew, and the knowledge did nothing to reassure him. He forced his hands to uncurl, fought the impulse to leap up and follow the tempting sway of her hips beneath that skirt, the subtle fragrance of roses and vanilla she’d left drifting in the air.

Living with Adam Trent, for Pete’s sake. He sucked in a breath. Adam had told him he shared with a nurse, but this nurse? He tried unsuccessfully to reconcile the Melanie he remembered with one in a starched white uniform and crêpe-soled shoes.

Which didn’t tell him squat about her personal life, Luke thought, grabbing his jeans from the floor. A glance around her room gave no hint. Only a tiny framed snapshot he’d not noticed on her dressing table last night—Mel and her sister, Carissa.

He studied it a moment. Yeah, still those same sultry lips and dark hair he’d fantasised about too often for his peace of mind. No men, then—at least none that rated a pictorial reminder. Relief pumped through Luke, instantly recognised and denied.

Whoa. He shook his head to clear the residual haze that had surrounded him since he’d woken to find that familiar pair of exotic grey eyes watching him. Her love life was none of his business. Her life was none of his business. Not since they’d gone their separate ways.

A glimmer of the emotion that had always accompanied her image spun through him like old gold. Part of him wanted to get the hell out, go home, crawl into bed again—his own bed—and put this whole morning into some sort of perspective. Another part wanted to stay, to rework that final scene from five years ago into something different, something that might have lasted.

But she hadn’t wanted long-term.

He pulled on yesterday’s sweater, and made a quick trip to the adjoining bathroom. The reflection in the mirror as he splashed his face with cold water reminded him he wasn’t the guy Mel knew anymore either. What would they make of each other now? The band around his gut tightened and he leaned over the basin to eyeball himself. You don’t want to know.

But one step into the living room, he came to a halt. She was holding a pot of steaming coffee, her buttercup top a stunning foil for the long sweep of coal-black hair, looking as fresh as an early spring daffodil. Quite simply, she took his breath away.

The colour in her cheeks flared a fragile peach as she met his gaze across the room. He’d seen the four seasons in those eyes and for a heartbeat he thought he saw a glint of summer joy behind the clouded depths before they dulled to a neutral stare.

Those eyes had haunted his dreams.

He couldn’t linger because she tore her gaze away and crossed to the coffee-table. Her body still had the same concise curves and long, lean lines, the same tilt to her head that set her hair swinging as she set the coffee and mugs down. If she’d changed physically in any way it was only to radiate that inner beauty women seemed to gain as they matured.

His heart stalled in his chest and he had to swallow to ease the dry knot in his throat.

‘Coffee?’ Her eyes flicked down as she poured him a mug.

‘Thanks.’ Something strong and wet at least—

‘You still take sugar?’

‘Yes.’

As he crossed the room to join her she leaned over to pour her own mug. The seductive curves of her breasts pressed intimately against her sweater as she straightened. Sensation burned in his blood, a punch of heat that left him breathless.

‘So…’ She lifted her mug, wrapped white-knuckled fingers around it and sank onto a faded brown couch as far away from him as she could get. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘Catching up with Adam.’ Gripping his own cup of the fortifying liquid, he remained standing. ‘Adam’s an old high-school buddy. We had a few drinks, he offered me a bed, said his flatmate wasn’t due back till later today.’

‘Oh.’

Was that disappointment or relief he heard in her voice? He told himself it didn’t matter. One social coffee, a few moments of civilised conversation and he was out of here. ‘I’m sorry if I inconvenienced you.’

She lifted a shoulder. ‘I…didn’t know you were back in Sydney,’ she murmured, then frowned into her mug.

‘Because we never kept in contact.’ The room fell silent as memories flickered like shadows between them. He shook them away. No trips down memory lane. No questions, no blame. Leaning over to set his spoon on the tray with a decisive clink, he said, ‘You came home early, then. A conference, wasn’t it?’

She nodded. ‘My room-mate was a chronic snorer. I couldn’t stand it another minute so at three a.m. I packed up and drove home.’

And not quite straight into his arms. ‘Strange how fate works.’

An almost-smile touched her lips. ‘You sound like Carissa.’

‘And how is she?’

‘Happily married and very pregnant.’

‘Glad to hear it.’ He paused a beat before asking, ‘And you?’

Her eyes flashed, a lightning bolt that hit him dead centre. ‘Single. And still loving it.’

So why the hard-edged animosity in her voice? As if she was trying to convince herself? He acknowledged the strike with a nod and waited for her to ask about him, swallowed a fleeting disappointment when she didn’t.

Instead, she said, ‘How are your parents enjoying having you back?’

Her tone had an underlying bitterness to it, a puzzle since she’d only met his father once and his parents had been overseas when they’d dated. ‘They don’t know yet. Dad’s not been well so they’ve gone to Stradbroke Island for a couple of weeks to soak up some sun. I’m in that big old house on my own.’

He could see it in her eyes—The house my mother cleaned twice a week. He had a sudden flashback of the first time he’d met Melanie at her parents’ funeral. He’d offered his condolences to both sisters on behalf of his parents who’d elected Luke to represent them, but it had been Melanie who’d caught his interest.